A Justice Site
RESOURCES: Community-Building - Visual Sociology - Message-Building
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FACULTY ASSISTANCE: Susan - jeanne - Pat
UWP Criminal Justice Dept. - CSUDH Dept. of Sociology
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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: January 29, 2007
Latest Update: January 29, 2007
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
Decorating Suggestions for Inserts to Explosion Box/Card or WaterFall CardThese suggestions are made to stimulate your creativity; not to limit it. By all means, use everything and anything you can lay your hands on. Bling is good. These cards are designed to attract someone's attention and stimulate them to talk about the issue the card reflects. As the project grows, I'll make sure we have a sharing list of concepts and ideas you want to be sure you know well enough to explain them to others IN PLAIN ENGLISH.
Be sure you don't use words that the strangers or friends you intend to share with have never heard. Instead of "illocutionary discourse" use "getting to know you." Instead of using "class consciousness," talk about "privilege that comes with a management position." When you're hunting for words, share that with us on transform_dom. We'll help you find words that won't put people off.
I'm trying to upload suggestions you might start with, like some of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry to share on a Valentine's card. But don't stop there. Make these creative projects your own. Decorate them with ideas that you want to share with friends, family, neighgors. OK, strangers sometimes, with appropriate care to your safety.
When I put together Susan's sample card, I used a travel brochure because it was lying there on my kitchen table. And it had the tiny pictures I needed for a two inch model. Most of the suggestions I'm going to make here I encountered on cards closer to four inch models. Adapt.
- Use a stamp in a color that blends into the color of your card stock to give an allover background. That adds interest to your creation. I used the Love Out Loud stamp for that purpose when I made a string of dolls into a card. Doll Card or use a more complex card to give a very different feeling: Susan's box - a background made up of multiple stampings in a coordinated color with the feeling I wanted to create. Much larger version of Susan's box, open so you can see the stamping up close.
If you have a photo or image that you want to use, enhance it by cutting a contrasting sheet a little larger than the photo to frame it. I did this on some of the travel images in Susan's box. The pink card serves to frame the travel images. With a larger version I could have double-matted the image, using a chocolate or green sheet under the image as a second mat.
You can achieve a 3d effect by letting something from the framed image come out over the frame. Try it.
Be inventive with handles to remove and re-insert the images or messages, or box tops. I used wire, run through the box for a little handle by which to pick up the top of the box. (Remember to make your top a little larger (about 1/4 inch) so that it will come off more easily, especially if you have embellishments that will extend the insert a little, as i did.) I also used ribbon tabs, held on by brads, and tried to use eyelets to thread ribbon through and tie it. (I can't seem to make a decent eyelet. They all fell out when I put the ribbon through!)
In one of Susan's box inserts, I drew a triangle, which I put over the frame. Try different shapes. Use patterned papers. Paint your own decorative papers. Use images from our site. I'll try to remember to upload some black and white drawings to which you can add your own colors.
Use color blocking. Divide the insert into four quarters, then use a different color for each quarter. A simple felt tip pen will give your polka dots, circles, squares, triangles. They don't need to be perfect. You could add them freehand. Patterns give texture, and make the visual piece more interesting.
Use ribbon or twine or cord or whatever to block off sections. Grosgrain ribbon holds very well, and you can use it to block off sections easily:
The grosgrain ribbon forms the line between the gray and orange sections here.
Easy enough to tie the ribbon into a bow if you want extra decoration.
Blocking might be more interesting if we added texture or a small drawing.
Discussion Questions
- What happens if you write long messages on a card or box?
Consider all of us with short attention spans, who have grown used to sound bites, consider it officialdom and cut out. Don't try to share everything you studied in a whole college course. Share a sound bite or two. Be prepared to offer more if someone wants it.
References:
- Arguments and Persuasion Techniques in Writing. Use of fear, authority, prestigious spokesperson, debate in persuasion.
- Jones and Gerard. Foundations of Social Pscyhology. 1967. Classic summary of research (primarily experimental).
